Grinding machine for railroad cars



July 15, 1969 l-IAJIME SHIQMI ET AL v 3,455,065

I GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 19.55 8 Sheets-Sheet 1 HSHLoMI A4 0 K #ASHIMOTo INVENTORS Wm, M I/M A Tram/E rs July 15, 1969HAJIME SHIOMI ET AL 3,455,065

GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS Flled Dec. 23. 1965 8 sh t -sheet 2BY UM July 15, 1969 HAJIME SHIOMI ETAL 3, ,06

GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 23, 1965 8 e ts-Sheet s HSf/IOMI AuD K //A.SHIMOT0 mvsmoxs BY M2 2 76m A TTJRfVErS y 1969 HAJIMESHIOMI ET AL 3,455,065

GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS v 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Dec. 23,1965 FIG. 7.

H. SHIOMI AND K. HASHIMoTo INVENTORS BYMMim/m Arm/vs Ks July 15,1969mums SHIOMI ET AL 3, 5

GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 23, 1965 8 sheets sheet 6FIG. 8.

H Suzom o K HAsHIMoro INVENTORS BY Mum ATTOZNHS y 5, 1969 mums smom ETm. 3,455,065

GRINDING MACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS Filed Dec. 23, 1965 8 Sheets-Sheet 7FIG. I0.

IOI

I02 A 407 I03 "5 1 p09 J H6 I n ggqjzo H SHZOMI AND K, HAsHI/msraINVENTOR5 July 15, 19 9 Filed Dec. 23, 1965 HAJIME smom ETAL GRINDINGMACHINE FOR RAILROAD CARS a Sheets-Sfieet a H- SHIoMI MD K f/ASl/IMdTdINVENTORS il/10354, iii/UM Arron/5x5 United States Patent US. Cl. 511049 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A grinding machine for railroad carwheels. A fix d frame is mounted on a bed and roller supporting framesare movable up and down along sliding surfaces on the fixed frame andare also movable back and forth on said sliding surfaces. A plurality ofwheel driving rollers adapted to receive wheel flanges of railroad carwheels are mounted on the top portion of each of the roller supportingframes, there being a pair of rollers at positions corresponding to theends of a railroad car axle. The roller supporting frames can thus bemoved up and down and back and forth in order to be correctly positionedbeneath the wheel flanges so that the wheels can be properly supportedfor grinding by grinding means also mounted on the apparatus.

The present invention relates to a grinding machine for grindingrailroad car wheels, which machine grinds the treads of the wheels withthe wheel bearings used as a reference for the grinding, while theweight of cars is borne by supporting the journal boxes of railroad carshaving their wheels mounted thereon on a supporting portion of thegrinding machine. The present invention further relates to an improvedfeeding device for the grinding member which is advantageously used inthe present machine.

Usually grinding of treads of railroad car wheels is carried out at thetime of a regular inspection by removing the wheels from the car.Recently it has become necessary, because the speed of railroad cars hasbeen increasing, to grind the wheel treads into proper shape morefrequently in order to maintain the cars in good operating condition atall times.

In this case it is very efficient to perform such grinding with thewheels mounted on the car bodies, because this enhances efficiency inthe utilization of the railroad cars. For this reason various types ofunder-floor type wheel truing machines are being used.

These machines utilize as the reference for the grinding operation asystem such as one which holds the center hole of axle for the wheels,one which supports the wheel at its circumference by means of rollers,and a bearing base system to support a journal box on a fixed part ofthe machine, etc.

Among these systems, the bearing base systems have a good efficiency andare easy to operate, and high precision grinding can be carried outbecause the wheels are ground almost under their running conditions.

The present invention has as one object the provision of a wheelgrinding machine by which the advantages of this last mentioned systemare enhanced to the maximum degree. One purpose of the present inventionis to provide an apparatus which can make a rough adjustment indetermining the position of the wheels of a railroad car which isrolled, either by being self-propelled or drawn, into the maintenanceshop track for the purpose of having the wheels ground. The apparatusconsists of a fixed rail connected to a track up to the position ofgrinding machine and a movable rail, the car being positioned on thetrack in such manner that the center between front and 3,455,065Patented July 15, 1969 rear Wheel axles will come to the center of thegrinding machine, and the car can be lifted off the rail by supportingthe flange portion of the wheels in wheel driving rollers which areattached to a roller supporting frame, as the frame is raised verticallyby, for example, hydraulic cylinders.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wheel inner faceadjusting apparatus which makes a minute adjustment in the position ofwheels with respect to the dimension between the inner faces of the leftand right wheels in the direction perpendicular to the rail, i.e. in thedirection of the axle, by holding the adjusting rollers on one side ofthe car in a fixed or base position by, as an example, cylinderscontaining hydraulic oil, and pushing the inner face of a 'Wheel mountedin the rollers on the other side of the car outwardly a distance equalthe difference from the standard of the dimension between the innerfaces the two-Wheels, and at the same time moving the said wheel drivingrollers in the direction of the axle.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide anapparatus which will support the axle firmly on its journal box on thesupporting part of a member on the said movable rail which is pushedoutwardly during the grinding operation, and while the driving rollersare always in contact with the circumference of wheel following itseccentricity and distortion and with the wheel bearings used as areference for grinding, and thereby giving an effective rotating forceto the wheel, will adjust the position of the grinding tool, thusconducting proper and improved grinding. Another object of the presentinvention is to provide an improved feeding device for the machinemember to be used in the grinding machine.

A preferred embodiment of the grinding machine of the present inventionin the form of a wheel grinding machine of the fixed under-floor typewhich grinds railway car wheels with grinding wheels will be explainedin reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a planview showing an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line 22 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are the schematic views showing the positions of thewheels and the grinding machine in relation to each other;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the relationship between the wheelsand their driving rollers;

FIG. 8 is a detailed sectional view of a wheel driving roller;

FIG. 9 is a schematic end view showing the action of the rollersregulating the positions of the rear faces of the wheels;

FIG. 10 is a side view, partly in section, of the feed system for themachining devices used in the present invention; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-section taken along line 1111 of FIG. 10.

As is shown in FIG. 1, the machine is made in two parts which areintegral, i.e., part A for the front wheels and part B for the rearwheels, both parts having an identical construction and parts, and thedistance between the centers of parts A and B being the same as betweentwo axles of a bogie.

In FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a bed 1 is fixedly placed on a foundation,and columns 2 are mounted at four places 2 on each side. And a fixedframe 3 is mounted on the bed 1, and roller supporting frames 4 go upand down along sliding surfaces 8 which are provided on the sides of theframe 3. Grinding wheel heads '5 have grinding wheels 6 attachedthereto, which heads go up and down within the columns 2. The positionof the heads can be adjusted to correspond to the direction of axle. Thetops of columns 2 are covered with crossframes 7.

As shown in FIG. 1, wheel driving rollers 9 and a driving mechanism 10which drives and rotates the rollers are firmly mounted on the rollersupporting frames 4 such that two sets of rollers on each end of an axleor a total of four rollers per axle are placed in an appropriateposition at the same distance from the vertical central axis of rollersupporting frames 4.

Fixed rails 11 and 11 are provided for rolling a railroad car to theposition of the wheel grinding machine, being connected to rails 12 and12' which in turn are fixed to the floor of a plant, and extend to thetop of columns 2 across a pit 13. A fixed rail 45 is also installedbetween the columns 2 of parts A and B. Members 14 are mounted on thecross-frames 7, having a movable rail 34 thereon, and they are soconstructed that they can go back and forth for a predetermined distancein a direction perpendicular to the rail 45 under the action ofhydraulic cylinders 15. In its forward position, the movable rail isaligned with fixed rails 11, 11' and 45 to form a continuous rail ontowhich a railroad car can be rolled. The member 14 is so made that at itswithdrawn or rear position (FIG. 1), a journal box supporting block 16,which is integral with the top of the member 14 on which the movablerail is mounted, is positioned just underneath the journal box of anaxle to carry the weight of the car body, and supports the bottom ofjournal box of the axle at the time of grinding, and at the same timemaking it possible to use the axle as a reference point for grinding.

Wheel inner face adjusting rollers 17, 17' on part A and 18, 18' on partB are provided one being installed on both the left and right sides ofboth parts, and hydraulic cylinders 19, 19' are mounted on the top ofthe fixed frame 3 and move the said rollers forward and backward in adirection parallel to the axle.

As seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the up and down movement of the rollersupporting frames 4 is carried out by hydraulic cylinders 20, the upperends of which are connected to two places on the bottom of the frames 4by pin joints 21, and the lower ends of which are hingedly connected tothe fixed frame 3 by pins 21'. Racks 23 and pinions 24, which engagewith the racks, are provided beneath pistons 22 of the hydrauliccylinders 20, and since the axles of the pinions of the two cylindersare connected to each other by a universal coupling shaft 25, each ofthe pistons 22 of the two hydraulic cylinders moves up and downsimultaneously at the same speed. However, the direction of the up anddown movement of the roller supporting frames 4 is restrained so as tobe on a circular arc of radius L, the center of which is the connectingpin 27 on the fixed frame 3 by means of hydraulic cylinder 26 having oneend connected to the fixed frame 3 at the pin 27 and the end of thepiston rod connected to the roller supporting frame 4 by a pin 27a, thedistance between pins 27 and 27a being L. When hydraulic fluid is forcedinto the cylinder on both sides of a floating piston 28 in the hydrauliccylinder 26, the floating piston 28 locks the piston 29 in place. Inthis condition, the roller supporting frames 4 carry tion under theaction of hydraulic cylinder 20, and the out up and down movement in analmost vertical direcdimension L is so pre-determined that the up anddown movement of the vertical center axis of the roller supportingframes is along substantially the vertical center line of the one halfof the grinding machine. However, when hydraulic oil is drawn out of thecylinder from both sides 30 of the floating piston 28, the direction ofmovement of the roller supporting frames 4 can swing a distance as greatas the stroke 31 of the floating piston 28 since the lower end ofhydraulic cylinder 20 is pinjointed so as to rotate freely.

The operation of grinding the wheels with the apparatus of the presentinvention which is constructed as described above, will now beexplained, analyzing it step by step.

First, a railroad car is rolled into the plant and stopped at a positionsuch that the center of the bogie is almost at the midpoint between theparts A and B of the grinding machine, i.e. the position shown by bogie32 and wheels 33 and 33' in FIG. 2. In this condition, fixed rail 11,11, fixed rail 45 and movable rail 34 constitute part of the maintenanceshop track, and grinders 6 and wheel driving rollers 9 are held in aposition below the level of the rail. The movable rail 34 is also in thelongitudinal central plane taken at the center of grinding machine whenit is in its forward position and in the relationship with the wheelshown in FIG. 4, and both the wheel driving rollers 9 and grinders 6 arelocated below the level of rail 34.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2 when the roller supporting frames 4 are liftedby hydraulic cylinder 20 and at the same time hydraulic fluid isintroduced into the cylinder 26 on both sides 30 of floating piston 28from a hydraulic pump through a control valve to produce the abovementioned locked status, the direction of movement of the rollersupporting frames 4 is along a circular arc of the radius L around thecenter of pin 27. Therefore, the direction of upward movement of thevertical center axis of each roller supporting frame 4 is substantiallyalong the vertical center line of each of the halves A and B of theapparatus.

Thus, even when the center of the wheel is not exactly at the center ofthe grinding machine, durin the process of lifting the wheels slightlyoff the rail as shown in FIG. 5, the horizontal component 36 of the axleweight 35 so moves the wheel that the wheel is placed and fitted betweenthe two rollers 9, and accordingly a correct position of both the frontand rear wheels is established and thus a rough adjustment inpositioning the car is carried out. In this case, it is necessary thatthe fluid pressure in the hydraulic cylinders 20 and 26 be suflicient towithstand the horizontal component generated by the axle weight and therelationship of forces among the wheels 33, 33' and rollers 9 as shownin FIG. 7.

Thereafter, the wheel inner face adjusting rollers 17, 17 shown in FIG.1 are moved outwardly by introducing hydraulic fluid into the rollerdriving cylinders 19, 19. This is done as shown in FIG. 9 by sendinghydraulic fluid into cylinders 19, 19 from pumps P through controlvalves 37 and 38 respectively. In this case, the hydraulic pressure inthe driving cylinder 19 is made somewhat higher than that in cylinder19. When the roller 17' pushes the inner face of the wheel to a pointsuch that the piston 39' reaches a prescribed stop position 40, theposition of the inner face of one of the wheels thus established becomesa base position and the piston 39 of cylinder 19 having the lowerpressure therein moves outwardly causing roller 17 to move a distanceequal to the difference between the actual distance and the standarddimension between the inner faces of the two wheels. The accuratepositioning of the wheels in the direction of the axle thus carried out.While this is being done, the wheel driving rollers 9 engages theflanges 43 of wheels as shown in FIG. 8, and the rollers 9 can movefreely in the axial direction on roller axles 44 for a distancecorresponding to gaps 46, 46' during the wheel positioning actionmentioned above.

After the minute adjustment in the positions the wheels in the directionof the wheel axle is being made as explained above, the member 14carrying movable rail 34 is moved backward until the journal boxsupporting block 16 is just beneath the journal box 47 of the wheel, andthe wheel driving rollers 9 are rotated by activating the drivingmechanism 10. The roller supporting frames 4 are lowered by means of thehydraulic cylinder 20, while the wheel is being rotated by the rotatingforce supplied by the rollers, so that the wheel is smoothly positionedwith the bottom of its journal box 47 supported by the journal boxsupporting block 16, and the axle of the wheel is firmly supporting theweight of the car body.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the floating piston 28 in the hydrauliccylinder 26, which governs the direction of movement of rollersupporting frame 4, is made free to move by pumping the hydraulic fluidout of the cylinder, and at the same time the fluid pressure on thebottom of piston 22 within hydraulic cylinder 20 is reduced to such adegree that the said pressure is suflicient to exert enough frictionbetween driving rollers 9 and the wheels to drive the wheels against agrinding force. Then the roller supporting frames 4 are again raised sothat the rollers 9 engage with the flanges 43 on the wheels. The fourwheels now receive an effective driving force while the proper amount ofcontact pressure is always maintained for following the eccentricity anddistortion of the wheels. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the grinding wheels6 are raised so as to grind the wheels while their position is beingadjusted in the direction of the axle.

As explained above the present invention provides effective means toposition the wheels and to drive the same. As to the machining member,the present invention can be used for tools other than a grinding wheelshown in the above example, for example turning tools or milling tools.

It is also possible, since the positioning of wheels is done, using aninner face of one side wheel as a basis, to measure and to remotecontrol the dimensional deviation of the distance between the innerfaces of opposing wheels through the movement of the wheel opposite thewheel used as the basis. At the same time the invention has theadvantage that the positioning of the tool can be carried outautomatically depending on the measured dimensional deviation mentionedabove.

A detailed explanation of the feeding device for the machining member ofthe present machine follows.

As seen in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the drawings, a tool post 101 is mountedon a column 102 on a sliding face 103 provided on the side of the column102 and is in contact with side guide portion 105, 105' on the frontportion 104, 104'. As shown in the drawing, cutting tool posts 101 andcolumn 102 are precisely fitted together, and holders 106, 106 hold theguide faces together.

Auxiliary column 107 is positioned on the column 102 as shown in FIG.10, and a cross frame 108 connects the column 102 and auxiliary column107. An auxiliary guide face 109 is provided on auxiliary column 107opposed to the sliding surface 103. A slight gap is maintained betweenthe guide face 109 and the face 110 of the cutting tool post 101 whichcontacts the guide face 109.

A pressing roller 111 of circulating roller type and a piston 112 whichcontacts the roller are provided in the auxiliary column 107, and arepositioned in a cylinder 113 which is positioned within the auxiliarycolumn 107. A pipe 114 is connected to the cylinder 113 and hydraulicpressure or air pressure is supplied therethrough from a pump.

A screw 115 for vertical feeding of the cutting tool post is positionedbeneath the cutting tool post 111. This is driven by an appropriatepower source 116, such as an electric motor or hydraulic motor, etc.through reduction gears 117, 117'.

In addition, adjacent to screw 115 is a hydraulic ram 118 contacting theunderside of the cutting tool post 101 and having its lower end in abalancing cylinder 119 provided in the column 102. A pipe 120 isattached to this cylinder 119, and hydraulic pressure is suppliedthrough the pipe 120 from a pump so that the cutting tool post 101 isurged upwardly the amount of hydraulic pressure being such that itbalances the dead load of the cutting tool post, plus most of thevertical component of the cutting force. On the other hand, thehydraulic pressure which works on cylinder .113 is controlled so that itpresses the cutting tool post toward the column 102, overcoming thehorizontal component of the cutting force. Since the amount of forceagainst which the screw 115 must act is reduced to a very small amountbecause of the pressure exerted by the balancing cylinder 119, when thecutting tool post is lifted or lowered by the feed screw 115, thepressure on the contact surface of screw is low, so that wear resistanceis enhanced and a high degree of accuracy can be maintained for a longperiod of time. At the same time, since twisting of load is small, therigidity of the driving portion is increased, and thus accurate cuttingcan be expected. It will also be effective to provide a plurality ofbalancing cylinders to take into account the weight distribution on eachportion of the cutting tool post 101 and the direction and amount of thecutting force.

Furthermore, because the pressing cylinder 112 presses the cutting toolpost 101 through the roller 111, the friction therebetween is small andbecause the gap between the sliding faces 109 and can be made extremelysmall, the raising and lowering of the cutting tool post 101 can be doneaccurately.

By providing a plurality of pressing cylinders 112 as shown in FIG. 11and by selecting appropriate positions and forces thereof andconsidering the effect of the horizontal component of the cutting force,the moment which works on guide portions 105 and 105 can be eliminated.

The holders 106 and 106' prevent the cutting tool post 101 frominclining when the hydraulic or air pressure is lost at the pressingcylinder 112.

As explained above, the present device not only provides means foraccurate cutting and grinding by accurate raising and lowering of thecutting tool post, but it also minimizes the twisting of the pressing-upscrew, so that the rigidity of these driving portions is enhanced, andthe contact face pressure on the screw is lower.

It is thought that the invention and its advantages will be understoodfrom the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changesmay be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the partswithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention orsacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described andillustrated in the drawings being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels comprising a bed adaptedto be fixed on a foundation, 2. fixed frame having sliding surfaces andmounted on said bed,

and roller-supporting frames movable up and down along said slidingsurfaces, hydraulic cylinders connected to the supporting frames forraising and lowering them, said hydraulic cylinders having their upperends pin connected to the bottom of the supporting frames and theirlower ends pin connected to the fixed frame, said roller supportingframes being slidable on said sliding surfaces on said fixed frame forswinging movement in a direction perpendicular to the axle, frameshifting means connected to said roller supporting frames for shiftingsaid roller supporting frames horizontally during the up and downmovement of supporting frames, and a plurality of wheel driving rollersadapted to receive wheel flanges thereon and mounted on the top portionof each of said rollersupporting frames, there being a pair of rollersat positions corresponding to the ends of a railroad car lbogie axle,whereby a car can be moved up and down by the supporting frames, and theposition of a vertical central axis through a respective rollersupporting frame can be adjusted so that it lies substantially along aperpendicular line, and the Wheel driving rollers contact the flanges ofthe car wheels to impart an effective rotating force thereto.

2. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said frame shifting means comprise further hydraulic cylinderseach having one end pivotally connected to the upper end of a supportingframe at the portion thereof facing the center of the grinding machine,and the other end pivotally connected to the upper end of the fixedframe at about the center of the grinding machine, the distance betweenthe two pins being fixed when said cylinders are filled with hydraulicfluid.

3. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 1 inwhich said first mentioned hydraulic cylinders connected to said rollersupporting frames are coupled to each other for synchronous up and downmovement.

4. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 1further comprising wheel machining means on said bed whereby when thecar is lifted up the wheels can be accurately machined by said machiningmeans as they are rotated.

'5. A grinding machine as claimed in claim 4 further comprising afeeding device for the machining means which comprises a machining meanssupport column having a sliding surface thereon, an auxiliary columnspaced from said support column, a cutting tool post between the saidsupport column and said auxiliary column and which moves up and downalong the sliding surface of the support column, the auxiliary columnhaving a plurality of pressure cylinders therein having rollers thereonengaging said post for pressing the cutting tool post toward the supportcolumn, and a screw threaded rod and a plurality of balancing cylindersengaging the bottom of the cutting tool post.

6. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 4 andfurther comprising wheel spacing adjusting means mounted between thewheel driving rollers at the top of the said fixed frames and engageablewith the inner faces of the railroad car wheels to regulate the distancebetween inner faces of a pair of wheels at both ends of an axle, wherebyat the same time the wheels are cut by the said machining means, thedistance between the inner faces of the pairs of wheels at the ends ofthe axles are regulated by the said adjusting means.

7. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 6,wherein the wheel spacing adjusting means comprises a pair of hydrauliccylinders, and means for controlling the hydraulic pressure in one ofthe pair of hydraulic cylinders so that it is greater than that in theother cylinder.

8. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 6 andfurther comprising a wheel machining means supporting column on whichsaid Wheel machining means is mounted and axle supporting members, crossframe on which said axle supporting members are mounted, and furthercolumns provided on said bed spaced from both sides of said fixed frameand on which said cross frames are mounted, said axle supporting membersbeing movable in the direction of the length of a wheel axle, wherebythe grinding is done by the said machining means the ends of the axlesrest on the said axle supporting members and the railway car issupported on the axles.

9. A grinding machine for railroad car wheels as claimed in claim 8 andfurther comprising machining means mounting members on which the wheelmachining means are mounted and which are movable up and down betweenthe columns provided on both sides of the supporting frames.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,622,374 12/ 1952 Stanley 5 1-104 2,762,171 9/1956 Schmidt 51-104 2,823,493 2/ 1958 Stanley 51-4043,018,588 1/1962 Long 51-104 OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner

